“A moving and deeply felt tribute to a love that dared to speak its name.” —André Aciman, author of Call Me by Your NameA new edition of the beloved novel most similar thematically to the author’s mega-bestseller The Heart’s Invisible FuriesIt is September 1919, and twenty-one-year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a package of letters to the sister of Will … package of letters to the sister of Will Bancroft, the man he fought alongside during the Great War.
But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan’s visit. He can no longer keep a secret and has finally found the courage to unburden himself of it. As he recounts the horrific details of what to him became a senseless war, he also speaks of his friendship with Will–from their first meeting on the training grounds at Aldershot to their farewell in the trenches of northern France. The intensity of their bond brought Tristan happiness and self-discovery as well as confusion and unbearable pain.
The Absolutist is a masterful, unforgettable tale of passion, jealousy, heroism, and betrayal set in one of the most gruesome trenches of France during World War I.
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John Boyne thrusts the reader into an emotionally charged novel that oscillates between the WWI training grounds at Aldershot, England, the trenches, and post WWI Norwich, England.
Tristan Saddler joins the army with all the exuberance of youth to find deep dark secrets of humanity irrelevant of war. When a young man in his regiment objects to fighting a war that he believes could be resolved with diplomatic arrangements, Tristan Sadler is unsure how to think about him. When that young man disappears under mysterious circumstances only to be found dead, Tristan begins to suspect that there are other forces at work within the regiment.
Tristan’s point of view is justifiably confused since he is attracted to Will Bancroft. And there are indications that Will is attracted to Tristan. Early 1900’s were not hospitable to young men attracted to one another.
With punchy dialogue and strong imagery, John Boyne reveals the horrors of war in the trenches without great detail. He gives the reader just enough to understand the story and get the plot to move along, delivering the message of his narrative without much obstruction.
And what is the message? Why did Tristan Saddler come to Norwich with a packet of letters for Marion Bancroft? And why is Tristan’s index finger so twitchy?
Disturbing, tragic, and so very sad — this novel from John Boyne recounts the emotional story of two World War I soldiers, who are unable to handle the deep and intimate connection they find in each other.
It begins after the war has ended. Tristen Sadler is nervous, on his way to meet Marion Bancroft, his late friend’s sister, in order to return to her the letters she wrote her brother during the war. From the start, it’s an awkward encounter. She is grieving, at odds with her parents, and struggling to adjust to the new norm of post-war England. Sadler struggles to remain patient — in part, because he too is uncomfortable, unsure about whether to share important but difficult information about her brother’s death.
During the few hours they spend together, flashbacks fill in the story of Tristen’s evolving friendship with Will Bancroft — from their first meeting at the start of basic training, to their deployment to the trenches of France, and eventually, to the moral and ethical conflicts at the heart of both their relationship and the war itself.
It’s an intelligent book, and oh so beautiful in the way it’s written. Boyne exposures the very souls of these two young men, still just teenagers, who rush to war looking for glory and excitement, and instead find unimaginable horrors and powerful emotions neither is mature enough to handle. Yet, the consequences of their actions linger forever.
This is not an easy book to read. Or even what I would describe as a pleasant experience. But unlike many other books I’ve read about World War I (and there have been quite a few) this one takes an unique approach and manages to genuinely shed light on the impact war has on those who fight in it.
A master work of fiction by a virtuouso, I will read more by John Boyne.
It is always shocking to be reminded that the majority of those sent to war are boys. The Absolutist, by John Boyne, brings this home with a poignant telling of the cruelties that soldiers wreak upon each other; not just against their enemies but also within their own ranks.
Tristan returns from the Great War to peace-time England. He is about to turn twenty one but he has already suffered and seen horrors over his four years on the battlefields of France. It has been long enough time to consider him as a man. And long enough time to acquire demons that haunt him.
Tristan’s story spans memories of his childhood through to the time immediately after the war. It is made clear that he has long been troubled, having been shunned by his family before embarking on military training at Aldershot. His travails continue during his time in the trenches of the Somme where he is impelled into a world gone mad, and where savagery reigns.
In such a situation, the concept of not doing your duty to King and Country, namely ‘going over the top’ to enter into a lottery of survival in ‘no man’s land’ will not be brooked. Conscientious objectors, however, are not spared the threat of death. Required to act as medics, they must also face the perils of battle. Furthermore they are reviled and subject to the brutality of others who fail to comprehend their ethos. They are called ‘feathermen’ because those who judge them as cowards give them white feathers as a symbol of a lack of bravery.
Tristan’s best friend, Will, has been executed as a traitor. Feeling obliged to return Will’s letters to his sister, Marian, the young veteran also struggles with a guilty secret he feels he must confess to her. Boyne maintains the reader’s attention by a skilful unravelling of this mystery. The readers is drawn to the story of the two young friends who gain comfort from each other when forced to cope with the unfamiliar regime of basic training and then the terror of mortal combat. I found the slow progression of this relationship to be compelling as the explanation is revealed as to why Will has decided to become an absolutist – a man who not only lays down his arms but refuses to do any act that contributes to the war effort. An act that is regarded as treason with the penalty of death by firing squad.
The choices that the two friends face are monumentally terrifying. They are expected to act like men yet they are only boys whose emotions are raw and confused. As such The Absolutist is an odd coming-of-age story as much as an examination of the hypocrisy and futility of war. Most of all, the novel forces the reader to consider the nature of cowardice and courage. Will is portrayed as brave even though branded as a traitor while Tristan, physically valiant, grapples with his own failure to make a stand.
Boyne’s style is flowing and engrossing, and his depiction of the lives and mores of those fighting during that ‘war to end all wars’ is vivid and real. The ending, though, was disappointing as the reader is finally shown an aging Tristan, tormented by his memories and choices. It may well have been best if the author had left him as a callow youth steeling himself to confront the truth of betrayal, loss and courage – and the assessment of whether he was a featherman after all.
My favorite John Boyne book to date ( and that’s a hard choice to make).